Well, this is unexpected. The iPhone 4G saga just got a whole lot crazier - dare I say it, a whole lot more ridiculous. Have you ever reported anything like a phone or something similarly small stolen to the police? What was their reaction? Did you ever get the device back? Did they send an army of officers to get your device back? No? Odd. They raided Jason Chen's house, and took four computers and two servers. Update: And thus our true colours reveal. "The raid that San Mateo area cops conducted last week on the house of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen came at the behest of a special multi-agency task force that was commissioned to work with the computer industry to tackle high-tech crimes. And Apple Inc. sits on the task force's steering committee." Update II: According to TechCrunch, the investigation has been put on hold while the DA ponders Gizmodo's shield defence. Update III: Some legal insight from a constitutional law and first amendment expert and a law professor. The gist? The DA has said no one has been charged with anything here, making this just an investigation - however, this makes the search and seizing of material worse. "If the police are literally just gathering information, with no suspect targeted yet, then a subpoena against a journalist would have probably been smarter than a search warranted that resulted in the front door of Chen's home being bashed in."

Last I read, Apple still had not fired or otherwise disciplined the employee who lost it.

So what is your point? Does this in any way negate the fact that this phone contained trade secrets? Was this a product purchased at an at&t store? No, it was a secret prototype that they were keeping from their competitors.

How Apple handles this internally is irrelevant. This was an internal prototype that Gizmodo purchased under dubious circumstances. If you're looking for a reason to hate Apple then look elsewhere and you can find plenty of reasons. In this case Gizmodo is the guilty party, they shouldn't have bought property that they knew belonged to Apple.

Apple had every right to contact the authorities. Gizmodo not only illegally purchased Apple property but also profited from it through increased ad revenue. They wanted a breaking story and were willing to step outside the law to get it. The shocking thing is how they made no attempt to cover their trail.

Hey guys look at this Apple prototype we purchased from some random guy for 5000 dollars! Neat-o! Here's my picture with it!!!

Oh but we shouldn't be arrested cuz they guy we bought it from says Apple doesn't care.

I've already stated more than once in this discussion that I hold Gizmodo equally at fault along with Apple. I never said I thought Gizmodo did the right thing. My comment was strictly regarding whether Apple is being consistent with their policies, and when they cease to be consistent they resort to intimidating anyone involved. It's disgusting.

Just so you are clear on my position: Gizmodo is in the wrong for buying the phone and if found criminally liable they should pay. Apple is in the wrong for using local police to intimidate Mr. Chen when he was merely breaking the story. The police and the judge were wrong for allowing Apple to seek a search warrant with no charges filed, instead of a subpoena which would be more logical (not to mention saving a lot of face with the public). Should criminal charges be filed, I would expect the outcome to be in Apple's favor given what little info we have to go by.

I've already stated more than once in this discussion that I hold Gizmodo equally at fault along with Apple. I never said I thought Gizmodo did the right thing. My comment was strictly regarding whether Apple is being consistent with their policies, and when they cease to be consistent they resort to intimidating anyone involved. It's disgusting.

Just so you are clear on my position: Gizmodo is in the wrong for buying the phone and if found criminally liable they should pay. Apple is in the wrong for using local police to intimidate Mr. Chen when he was merely breaking the story. The police and the judge were wrong for allowing Apple to seek a search warrant with no charges filed, instead of a subpoena which would be more logical (not to mention saving a lot of face with the public). Should criminal charges be filed, I would expect the outcome to be in Apple's favor given what little info we have to go by.

Who is to say it wasn't he DA of the area who went overboard. Due to the number of tech companies in that area a DA can't be lax on issues like these or he will find himself not being the DA for long or any future prospects in government. With the deep pockets that these companies have any government official may be a bit overzealous to please. Doesn't necessarily mean that Apple told them to go hunt down Chen. I highly doubt hat Apple told the local police to make good on a sketchy warrant that even the judge who issued it wasn't sure about. The main point is that maybe shit like this don't fly in Silicon Valley. If it did these companies will move elsewhere and that can affect a lot of people and lot of money could then be channeled elsewhere. That's a lot of pressure for a DA and he may tend to get heavy handed if he though his job was in jeopardy.

How Apple handles this internally is irrelevant. This was an internal prototype that Gizmodo purchased under dubious circumstances. If you're looking for a reason to hate Apple then look elsewhere and you can find plenty of reasons. In this case Gizmodo is the guilty party, they shouldn't have bought property that they knew belonged to Apple.

Apple had every right to contact the authorities. Gizmodo not only illegally purchased Apple property but also profited from it through increased ad revenue. They wanted a breaking story and were willing to step outside the law to get it. The shocking thing is how they made no attempt to cover their trail.

Hey guys look at this Apple prototype we purchased from some random guy for 5000 dollars! Neat-o! Here's my picture with it!!!

Oh but we shouldn't be arrested cuz they guy we bought it from says Apple doesn't care.

So freaking stupid, I just can't believe it. [/q]

Exactly. This isn't about the guy who found the phone anymore.

This is now about Gizmodo knowingly violating local,state and quite possibly federal laws dealing with stolen property